Simple Flames............bennyraw

I want to first thank Skippy for putting this together and I was honored to be asked to be a part of it. I know we've all learned a ton and really appreciate some of these great artists sharing some of their tricks. I also want to give credit to Salty Dog who built this really impressive blank to give me an easy canvas to work on, if you can't tell, this thing is massive.
:you da man:

There are allot of way's to do flames, some much more complicated than others. Mine are still very much a work in progress and I'm hoping to pick up some good tips from you guys but I'm going to share a simple way to portray the flame effect. I call this pattern Toasted Wonderbread and, as seems comon we'll start with a pearl white plug :) Next do the whole thing in a wonderbread pattern making sure to go light on your paint. I like to fog the whole thing in pearl white and then add some intermittent small silver pearl scales.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
For the next step you'll need some stencil material, I like Frisket. Find some images of flames that you like, you can trace them if you like but I usually just draw them freehand and then cut them out with a razor. I'm using the positive image for this plug but for alot of flames I do the negative image works better so don't toss your scraps.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Stick your stencil on the plug carefully and mask off the rest of your plug.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Next I fog the whole plug in a very light pearl blue and then add a larger scale mesh and add some fairly thick pearl silver scales over that.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
The next step is to shade the edges of your flame stencil in black, try to vary how light or dark you spray as you go.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Let everything dry, peel off your masking and you're done.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Hopefully this will be a good jumping off point for you guys.

wow that plug design is sick its realy awsome great job u plug builders make it look so easy but i know alot of work goes into each one

Fantastic Demo. Thanks for sharing that tip. It looks great!!

Benny great demo, you make it look so easy :shock:

very cool benny... can not wait to do some flames

Nice job, maybe I'll be able to do this one, if I ever get a chance to try and paint again !!!!!

Thanks Guys' sorry for the early post but I'm headed up to the Cape this morning and won't make the chat. I'll try to add to this next week using the other side of our template on a different plug, be sure to pick up a French Curve at your local art store and we'll do some more detailed flames.

Awesome demo Benny

that thing is hot

Excellent tutorial.

I was hoping to do some flames, you got me kick started......
I decided to pick up a paintbrush, and do some "Redhot" freestyle,,,has been a lot of fun..

you can have some crazy fun with this demo guys, lets see what you got.


very nice job mr. Raw

Well, I was hoping a couple of you guys would try some flames. Looks like I have to try again.





Starting with a back plug this time and using the inverse of the stencil we cut in the first pattern.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
I'm using a nice light blue for my base, it will darken up quite a bit by the time we're done. You just want to highlight the pattern in select areas, don't fill in the whole stencil.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Next highlight what you sprayed with white, be sparing. When you peel off your stencil it should look something like this.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Now you can overspray with a deep transparent blue, the thicker the coat the more depth your flames will have when you're done.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
For the next step I use my french curve, you could also cut a stencil out of cardboard.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
You just want to be creative here, picture how the flames would look naturally. Just hold your curve up to the plug and highlight parts of the curve. It's good to practice on a piece of paper before you try it on a plug, the curved surface makes it a little tougher.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
I do the first layer in the same light blue and then overspray again with the dark transparent blue.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
After that I did my next layer of flames in pearl purple and then more flames in pearl green and the did some final highlights in white. You can also clear between coats to create more depth. Of course you can use whatever colors float your boat.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

looks awsome benny great job

pretty cool Benny! i like it! keep up the good work!

ok benny now i gotta try that. using the french curve, you do the different colors on different spots on the plug correct? just keeping with the same general direction? looks cool never did flames. thanks again.

dozer 277 wrote:ok benny now i gotta try that. using the french curve, you do the different colors on different spots on the plug correct? just keeping with the same general direction? looks cool never did flames. thanks again.

Thats the idea, just picture each color as a seperate flame, some will cross other flames. It should wind up looking layered.

bennyraw wrote:I want to first thank Skippy for putting this together and I was honored to be asked to be a part of it. I know we've all learned a ton and really appreciate some of these great artists sharing some of their tricks. I also want to give credit to Salty Dog who built this really impressive blank to give me an easy canvas to work on, if you can't tell, this thing is massive.
:you da man:

There are allot of way's to do flames, some much more complicated than others. Mine are still very much a work in progress and I'm hoping to pick up some good tips from you guys but I'm going to share a simple way to portray the flame effect. I call this pattern Toasted Wonderbread and, as seems comon we'll start with a pearl white plug :) Next do the whole thing in a wonderbread pattern making sure to go light on your paint. I like to fog the whole thing in pearl white and then add some intermittent small silver pearl scales.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
For the next step you'll need some stencil material, I like Frisket. Find some images of flames that you like, you can trace them if you like but I usually just draw them freehand and then cut them out with a razor. I'm using the positive image for this plug but for alot of flames I do the negative image works better so don't toss your scraps.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Stick your stencil on the plug carefully and mask off the rest of your plug.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Next I fog the whole plug in a very light pearl blue and then add a larger scale mesh and add some fairly thick pearl silver scales over that.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
The next step is to shade the edges of your flame stencil in black, try to vary how light or dark you spray as you go.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Let everything dry, peel off your masking and you're done.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Hopefully this will be a good jumping off point for you guys.

TOASTED WONDER BREAD!!!! THATS HOT...... NO PUN INTENDED

thanks benny cant wait till i get home gonna try this on some darters. down side is i need to hit the beach also, oh what to do. not enough hours in the day.

Looking great Benny......Keep up the Badass work brother...!!!!!!

Teddy wrote:Looking great Benny......Keep up the Badass work brother...!!!!!!

Wow, a Teddy sighting . I've still got your skull plug here and maybe another handcarve with your name on it.

Give me a yell and I'll swing by...........I had alot on my plate over the last few months...!!!!!! I'm back though...!!!!!!

Ok benny got my frisket film and french curve last night at michaels. was pretty comical trying to tell my wife i needed some framas film, finesse film, fuccini film. just couldnt remember the name. anyway hope to get started this week. got the plug base coated with black already so we will see.

Do it dozer, practice on a flat surface first